Naruto Series: Itachi Uchiha (INFJ)
Ni:
โItโs foolish to fear what we have yet to see and knowโ
โYou Focus on the Trivial, and lose sight of what is most important, Change is impossible in this fog of ignorance. How can we Evolve when Regulation is all we know?โ
โโฆthe trappings of a clan never bound Itachi. He was able to think about the future of shinobi and the village, and always had misgivings regarding those futures.โ โ Saritobe about Itachi
Itachiโs personality type is a very obviously that of an Ni dominant. From a young age, he ponders the meaning of life, death, a shinobi and a village. He doesnโt seek out other people to answer these questions, but dwells on them, trying to work out his own interpretation. His fighting style focuses heavily on deception. He learns the Shadow Clone Jutsu at a young age, and uses it to skip school. When heโs older, he creates vast and elaborate GenJutsu to deceive his opponents and manipulate their actions. He focuses on the future and where events are going to lead. He frequently realizes whatโs going to happen before it does, and he creates strategies and contingency plans based on it. For instance, planting a suggestion in the eyes of his subordinates when he first met them because he distrusted them, and putting Orochimaru in a Genjutsu when they first meet up, knowing Orochimaru will attack him. In addition, Itachi latches onto the crow symbol as a young child, and uses it heavily to precede his appearances and his GenJutsu, which is a demonstration of Ni symbolism.
Fe:
โThose who turn their hands against their comrades are sure to die a terrible death.โ
โSelf-sacrificeโฆ.A nameless shinobi who protects peace within itโs shadowโฆTHAT is a true shinobiโฆโ
While the show makes Itachi appear like a Te auxiliary early on, his Fe/Ti becomes very apparent later on. During Itachiโs back story, child Itachi demonstrates Fe constantly. In an academy sparring match, he is shown defeating his opponent, and then catching the kidโs head before it hits the ground. When the kids run down the halls proclaiming how amazing he is, Itachi is bothered by all the attention, desperately hoping theyโll stop, but he never says a word. He generally avoids conflict and fighting, only launching into action to defend himself when he absolutely has to. When faced with the decision to kill off the Uchiha, his Fe was forced to decide between loyalty to the clan and loyalty to the village. He determined that for the future of the village and the clan (surviving through Sasuke), the Uchiha had to be destroyed. Itachi appears to be in an Ni-Ti loop for the entire show due to his tragic life, which would explain the general lack of emotional expression. However, he is generally very soft in his dealings with Sasuke, prior to wiping out the Uchiha clan. When Sasuke finally manages to kill him, Itachi canโt help but find one last secret way to express his love for his brother: tap Sasuke on the forehead like he did when they were kids.
Ti:
โKnowledge and awareness are vague, and perhaps better called illusions.โ
โObsessed with Organization, obsessed with the clan, obsessed with ourselves. A worthless compulsion that enslaves us and limits our capabilities, leading us to fear what we donโt understand.โ
Ti is abstract logic. Ti users prefer to not extravert judgement or explain what theyโre thinking before the thought is fully formed. Itachi demonstrates this in his detached style of thinking, pondering, and strategizing. Ni-Ti also is the deadly combination that allows someone to go deep down the rabbit hole, logically speaking. He over time develops disgust for organization and the confines of the clan, because he sees where it is all leading. He is neither commanding nor bossy, and never appears to desire any form of command. What Itachi does and how he goes about things frequently makes no sense to the observing eye. His methods are never direct, and his strategies remain solely in his head. When he is revived and fights alongside Naruto, Itachi suddenly tells Naruto to be quiet because he needs to retreat into his mind to form a strategy. This is characteristic of a Ti user.
Se:
Itachiโs inferior Se is most clearly seen in his fighting style.ย He demonstrates a preference for fighting at a distance, with illusion and deception. He avoids hand-to-hand conflict like the plague, and when forced to physically fight, Itachi finds a way to get out of it as quickly as possible, which indicates the lack of a strong sensory function. Beyond that, low Se is impulsive and indulgent, and Itachi rarely demonstrates either of these things, but he does live most of his life in an Ni-Ti loop. He does lash out angrily at his father multiple times prior to the destruction of the clan, and he also lashes out a group of Uchiha who were accusing him of killing Shisui. As a child, after Tenma dies, Itachi mourns the loss and wishes that heโd had more skill so that he could have saved Tenma. The desire for more skill could possibly be low Se. In addition, when Orochimaru tries to steal his body, Itachi reacts instantly and angrily, nearly killing Orochimaru. If Kabuto hadnโt stepped in, Itachi would have.
Hi there! If you enjoyed that article, leave us a quick comment to encourage us to keep writing, and check out our Updates and Current Projects. In addition, if you've found our content helpful, please consider Buying Us A Coffee to help keep this website running. Thank you!
Heh, Naruto MBTIโs so complicated. Youโve got Neji who everyone knows is an IxTJ but canโt agree on and then youโve got Sasuke whoโs everything from INTJ to ISFP to (as you guys rather convincingly argue) ESTJโฆ.
โฆand then thereโs Itachi, whoโs like, the most blatantly obvious INFJ ever. Ha!
Lol, yep. The catch with Itachi though is that his character basically changes partway through the show, when the author decided to make him a good guy due to how popular of a character he was becomingโฆ He started out very stereotypically INTJ and then switched to an INFJ. Naruto characters tend to be a bit inconsistent in that way at times, plus, the authorโs own personality (My theory โ ISFP) seems to have heavily influenced all of the characters, so theyโre frequently not quite rightโฆ Itโs all of the Fi and Ni bleeding through, which would explain why Sasuke is commonly theorized to be either ISFP or INTJ. I also noticed at one point that many of the less developed supporting characters tend to strike as ISFPs. XD
Kishimoto as an ISFPโฆI can see that.
Your point about Fi and Ni bleeding through is interesting; I want to write my own shonen comic and at a certain point started feeling like all the characters sounded like me. (I got into MBTI and Enneagram to try to differentiate them more from each other)โauxiliary Te at work. ๐ฌ
Do you suppose itโs more difficult for those of us with lower-order or shadow Ne to create diverse characters or fiction in general?
My impression is that xNFPs (Ne + Fi) would be most naturally suited to create compelling and fantasy-heavy works like Naruto or Fairy Tail or MHA; I often feel like my SiTe approach is unoriginal/derivative and/or emotionally numb by comparison.
โKishimoto as an ISFPโฆI can see that.โ
I wrote an article specifically about it if youโre interested in the Personality Bleed section.
โDo you suppose itโs more difficult for those of us with lower-order or shadow Ne to create diverse characters or fiction in general?โ
Not necessarily. For instance, Iโm willing to bet that J. R. R. Tolkien is a high Si user, maybe even Si-Te. His fantasy-based novels have so much detail, and a good amount character variety. All you need is experience with people. Talk to others, learn about them, understand how they think and act in everyday life, and not just via detached MBTI theory. MBTI can certainly be a tool to help understand/categorize/outline personalities. I used to do a lot of online text-based roleplaying with others and had a decent variety of characters, but they were usually based on real life people that I knew and could use as template for realistic behavior. I would use MBTI to back check myselfโฆ to ensure I was staying within the logic confines of their personality, rather than attributing my default behavior to them.
โMy impression is that xNFPs (Ne + Fi) would be most naturally suited to create compelling and fantasy-heavy works like Naruto or Fairy Tail or MHA; I often feel like my SiTe approach is unoriginal/derivative and/or emotionally numb by comparison.โ
Ne will certainly be prone to producing fantasy-heavy works, but thatโs not the same as saying that those without high Ne canโt. Note that Naruto is an Se style showโฆ it has a very bad showing of Ne. I will grant you that MHA has Ne, due to how realistic Midoriyaโs Ne isโฆ displaying Ne quirks that are not very well known. Fairy Tail howeverโฆ is heavily Fe themed (drawing strength from friends, my friends are family, strong group ties, etc.) which makes me think ESFJ for the author, which would mean lower Ne. The show itself is not nearly as wildly unrealistic and random as One Piece which is most certainly written by a high Ne user.
I am definitely interested and will check it out. Much appreciated. ๐
If I may suggest, your broad MBTI typing of Shonen series and their authors would be a very interesting giant compilation article. It could be both illustrative of MBTI typing and a nice compare/contrast between seriesโ themes.
Iโd also be curious if you could impart knowledge of other shonen like Rave Master (which, though written by Mashima, has a slightly different flavor than Fairy Tail I feelโฆ That and the RAVE anime pales in comparison to the manga) Iโd also be interested in your input on Togashi, Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter.
Not meaning to pressure you allโฆThanks for your insight!
Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter were written by the same authorโฆ Well crap. That means Togashi is probably an ISTJ. Thatโs really interesting and makes so much senseโฆ (I never bother to actually look up the authors of the individual shows). Well, with that, I have really enjoyed this conversation with you. In the back of my mind, I did have an idea for an article comparing and contrasting the themes between series as they relate to the functions, but maybe since youโve mentioned it, Iโll start pulling that forwardโฆ Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any more thoughts/questions or would like to see any other specific show covered in that article beyond whatโs previously been mentioned.